Review of Experience XSI 4: The Official SOFTIMAGE | XSI 4 Guide to Character Creation (Paperback)

I recently decided to get back into 3D after a number of years out of the loop. After experimentation with the top applications (Maya, XSI, 3DMax and Lightwave, plus a number of less well known applications such as Cinema4D), I decided to go with XSI. Maya came a close second: XSI just seemed easier and more intuitive.

The next problem was finding some teaching material to learn XSI with. There are literally hundreds of courses, books and DVDs for Maya, but only a handful for XSI. This was a fact that almost made me go for Maya (there is no point gettinga high powered application if you dont know how to use that power!), but I took the precaution of actually reading some of the XSI books, and boy was I impressed - although there are far fewer XSI books out there, the quality of them exceeds many other digital authoring and computer books I have read. As a computer book author and freelance web designer myself, thats no mean feat... I get through a lot of books!

There are only two books you need to get up to speed with XSI: The XSI:Illuminated:Foundation (published by Mesmer) and this book.

The expertise of the authors of the Experience XSI 4 books is obvious just by flicking through the pages. One of the authors was actually involved in the development of XSI itself, and the other is a noted CGI professional. You just can't go wrong with tutors like these!

The other surprise was the high production values and low price of the book: full color gloassy paper throughout. This is not a showy color book with little technical depth though, far from it. It is packed with concise and totally practical tutorials.

Perhaps one downside of the book is that the authors push you straight in at the deep end: the character you create is commercial quality (ie it would not look out of place in a Hollywood motion picture). For me, thats an advantage not a pitfall: I'd rather be working slowly through a book that showed me how to create a believable, realistic character than fly through 300 pages creating cubes, matchstick men and simple rotating logos!

Highly recommended.

S


Product Description
XSI is the next generation in digital animation software. It was used to create some of the first realistic CG characters developed for film and it continues to be used by artists and animators worldwide in new and creative ways and in many different fields-from computer games to the film industry, from commercials to music videos. This official Softimage guide will show you how you can effectively use XSI to create compelling, lifelike characters. You'll cover each step-from designing and modeling to rendering and compositing. Learn how you can use Behavior to create intelligent characters that can interact with one another to form a realistic 3D animated crowd. You'll also cover scripting and how it can be used to save time and increase productivity.

About the Author
As a teenager growing up in Arlington Texas, Aaron Sims began his career working for famed commercial illustrator Don Ivan Punchatz. After moving to Los Angeles in 1985, Aaron began designing, sculpting, and painting creatures for the movie makeup effects. In 1988, Sims joined Rick Baker's Academy Award® winning Cinovation Studios Inc. He further developed his skills as a team member on "Gremlins 2" (Head Painter), "Baby's Day Out" (Head Painter/Cosmetic Supervisor), "Batman Forever" (Painter/Sculptor), and "Batman and Robin" (Painter/Sculptor). Sims went on to lead various projects at Cinovation, designing and sculpting the Grandma Klump prosthetic makeup on "The Nutty Professor", the Worm Guys and other aliens in "Men in Black", the Willie character prosthetic make-up in "Life", and the new Grandma Klump prosthetic make-up in "The Nutty Professor 2". Sims became Project Supervisor on "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" Sims sculpted and painted the Baby Grinch character, oversaw its construction, and puppeteered the character on set. He designed many of the ‘Who' Character prosthetics as well. Always looking for ways to expand his artistic ability, in the late 90's Sims began exploring the medium of computer animation. Sims joined Stan Winston Studio in 2000 and began building a digital design shop within the Academy Award winning effects house. In 2001, he joined SW Digital, the design division at Stan Winston Studio. SW Digital has since designed characters for "Terminator 3", and completed and all digital promotional trailer TRAKK for Stan Winston Creatures, the action figure and comics division of Stan Winston Studio.

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